CWCAP has released salmon into the Piper’s Creek Watershed since 1980. Along with comprehensive habitat restoration
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) and Salmon in the Schools —Seattle host bookend programs in Seattle for public and private schools. By bookend, the meaning comes from the Spring Salmon Release program (release of salmon fry) and the Fall Salmon Search program (returning spawners) —observational and participatory programs for the beginning and the end of the salmon life stages.
Students raise salmon eggs in refrigerated aquariums that hatch and grow into approximately 2 ½ inch fry in about 3 months. Then it’s time to take their fish to be imprinted for a month at the Salmon Imprint Pond at Carkeek Park in April. This Salmon Release Program happens every Spring so that their school fish learn or memorize the unique chemical/mineral signature of the Piper’s Creek Watershed system, ensuring that these waters become their home waters.
Salmon fry released 3-5 years earlier return each Fall and these same schools return to Carkeek Park to observe spawning fish. Students learn about salmon ecosystem challenges and salmon anatomy through observation and discussion around a real adult salmon that has died naturally.